


One Step Towards Me

by Thesacredjeditexts



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Fusion, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Band Fic, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, I just came here to march and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now, M/M, Marching Band, POV Rey (Star Wars), Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Reylo Week, Slow Burn, Star Wars References, curse words
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-09-24 05:50:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17095046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thesacredjeditexts/pseuds/Thesacredjeditexts
Summary: Rey is a starry-eyed college freshman entering Coruscant University and is excited to start her English degree. She was an All-State clarinet player, and joins the Coruscant Marching Band in the hopes of meeting new people.Ben Solo is the head drum major of the CMB and worked hard for his position. When he’s not on the ladder, he’s practicing hard to get into the Achto Conservatory for his Masters Degree in Music. He’s cold and unattainable, and has no love for the immaturity of freshmen.Rey is attracted to the mysterious Ben and the close group of friends that call themselves the Knights of Ren, but quickly becomes disenchanted when she sees how rude he can be. Can her fiery temper melt the ice of Kylo's heart?All the names of places and characters were taken from the films, EU, and books. Some of the parentage/relationships may not make sense, but I wanted to adapt characters into other roles.





	1. The Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> I found out through my Reylo discord group that a LOT of us were band people, or at least familiar with it. Artsy types are always attracted to romances like Reylo, which I love!  
> I've always wanted to write a marching band story loosely based on my college band experience. Even if you're not familiar with marching band, there won't be too many technical terms, as the focus will be on the relationships between the characters.  
> I hope you enjoy my story! Thanks for stopping by!

Rey stepped out of her old Volkswagen Bug and stretched. It had been a long drive from her small hometown of Jakku. She’d spent most of her babysitting earnings from the summer on gas alone for the trip, but there was no way she was leaving The Falcon (as she’d lovingly named it) behind. She’d been thrilled to leave Jakku. She had felt trapped there, knowing there was a whole world out there for her to see. Maybe that’s why she loved books so much: Her foster family didn’t have money for trips, so Rey escaped through reading.  
With a sigh, she tugged the heavy duffel full of second-hand books out first. That was going to be tricky to get up the stairs. She had studied the online photos on the family’s shared computer for Billet Hall, the oldest dormitory on campus--and the shabbiest. Four floors, no elevators, and farthest from the dormitory dining hall. Rey didn’t mind, though. She was so excited to finally be on campus that she would have gladly slept in The Falcon.  
Rey slung her backpack on and grabbed her suitcase with her free hand. The door had been propped open to welcome all of the freshman move-ins, and a blue and white banner that read “Welcome to Billet Hall!” hung over the door. Rey smiled at it, her heart warming at the greeting from her new home.  
A sullen looking girl sat at a folding table in front of the stairs. She had headphones around her neck that Rey could hear loud rock music coming out of.  
“Name?” the girl asked in between smacking her gum.  
“Rey Lowen,” she said warmly.  
The girl glanced down at her list, pulled out a ring of keys from her pocket, then picked one off and handed it to Rey.  
“Your hair is weird,” she told her unabashedly.  
“Um...thanks?” Rey said, taken aback. She touched her hair, which had been pulled into three buns stacked on top of each other at the back of her head. Her foster sister Sache had loved playing with Rey’s hair, and years ago, she had tugged Rey’s strands into the buns. Rey loved making Sache happy, and when Sache asked her to wear her hair that way, she had complied. It was now second nature for Rey to do so.  
“No prob,” the girl said as she pulled her headphones over her ears. “Room’s upstairs.” She jabbed behind her with her thumb.  
Rey took that to mean the conversation was over, and moved around her to get to the staircase. The girl didn’t budge, and Rey nearly tripped as she pulled her suitcase behind her. When she made it to the first landing, she realized she hadn’t even been told what room she was in. She pulled the key out of her pocket and saw “4-8” attached on a small disk. Great, fourth floor.  
By the time Rey made it up to the top, her face was red from the effort of dragging the suitcase. Strands of hair were plastered over her eyes and she was breathing heavily. She knew she wasn’t out of shape by any means, but those stairs had been incredibly steep.  
She jabbed the key into the door and used her shoulder to push it open.  
“Wow, hi!” a voice cried. A girl with choppy black hair and a round, happy face beamed at Rey. “I can’t believe you’re here!”  
“Same!” laughed Rey. “Do I know you?”  
“No, but I know who you are! I looked you up on the Holonet when I saw we were going to be roommates! I’m Rose Tico, nice to meet you!”  
Rey couldn’t match her energy even if she tried, but her excitement was contagious. “Nice to meet you too! I never saw any room assignments, but I’m really excited to be here.”  
Rose pointed at the bed nearest Rey. “That’s your bed. We share the closet, but don’t worry, I don’t have a lot of stuff.”  
Rey threw her duffel onto her bed, causing the old zipper to unzip itself. Books came spilling out, and Rose’s eyes lit up.  
“I love reading! I wish I had more time for it,” she said wistfully.  
“You’re welcome to mine any time,” Rey told her as she started stacking the books on the shelf behind the bed. “I’m going to be an English major, what about you?”  
“Music! I play French horn, and I suck.”  
Rey laughed. “I’m sure you don’t suck if you were good enough to get into Coruscant. That’s a coincidence though. I play clarinet and registered for marching band.”  
“That’s probably why we’re roommates,” Rose nodded. “They stick the freshmen marchers together all over campus in the dorms.”  
“I’m a little nervous about it, truthfully,” Rey confessed. “Little fish, big pond sort of scenario, you know?”  
“Well, at least we know each other. Hey, that’s probably why they pair freshmen together if they’re doing band!”  
Rey threw herself backwards on the bed, completely unmotivated to unpack her suitcase. “I drove so long, I could honestly go to sleep now.”  
“I’m just hungry,” Rose complained, patting her stomach. “You think they’ll feed us?”  
“Who?”  
“The band staff,” Rose said, raising an eyebrow. “For the informational meeting?”  
“Uhhhh, what meeting…” Rey blinked at her, confused.  
“Did you not get the band packet in the mail? That’s why your move-in date is a week before school starts, silly! We have band camp!”  
Rey bolted up. “WHAT? Are you joking?”  
“Nope, starts in half an hour. We should probably head over, the music school is all the way across campus,” Rose replied, checking her watch. “But don’t worry, the auditions aren’t until tomorrow!” 

 

Rey made her way across campus with Rose, who had evidently memorized the campus map, pointing all the buildings out.  
“That’s your building!” she said, grabbing Rey’s arm with one hand and pointing at an ivy-covered limestone building. “I read that Sestra Hall has the Special Collections library, where all the out-of-print or rare books are located.” She had peppered her tour with little bits of information, much to Rey’s amusement.  
“Of course they’d stick us in the old dusty building,” Rey said. “Just like the out-of-print books.”  
“The Ilum School of Music is old, too. Only the STEM majors get new buildings, because it’s the fastest growing college on campus,” Rose said without missing a beat. “But I think older buildings have a nice, homey feeling, don’t you?”  
They walked up to Ilum, the windows shining like crystals as the setting sun hit them.  
“I’ve already been here for concerts,” Rose told her. “It’s freezing. It’ll probably make me sound awful tomorrow!”  
Rose pulled open the double doors, and a wall of sound hit Rey’s ears. There were students everywhere in the lobby of the music school. They were draped across the couches, leaning against the railings of the staircase, and sitting on the floor. Everyone was chatting and laughing, with the older looking students greeting one another with the air of confidence that only someone who has gone through the freshman experience already can have.  
There were a group of especially loud students clustered in and around a circle of armchairs. A guy with a beatific smile was holding everyone’s attention, evidently telling some sort of story from the way he gestured with his hands.  
“...and then, we barely escaped through the back doors! Someone managed to throw a shoe at me, and a few Twizzlers.” Everyone around him roared with laughter.  
“Finn for the win!” a girl with braids laughed, clapping her hands. The circle started chanting, “Finn for the win! Finn for the win!” and he took a bow. He looked up and caught Rey’s watchful eyes.  
“Hey, fish!” he called out to her. “Come on over!”  
Rose sucked in a breath. Rey tentatively approached, unsure of what to do.  
“Whatcha play?” Finn asked, crossing his arms and posing cooly against an armrest.  
“Clarinet, and Rose,” she grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward, “plays French horn.”  
Finn smiled. “I’m a saxophone and--”  
“--our fearless section leader!” the girl with braids exclaimed.  
Rey’s experience around certain instrument personalities had been fairly consistent. Trumpets were boastful and confident; saxophones were goofy and didn’t like authority; clarinets were a melting pot of personalities, and so on. But a section leader talking to them on their first day was more than Rey had expected!  
They exchanged pleasantries, with everyone mentioning where they were from (“Jakku? Where the heck is that?”) and their majors. Finn was a sophomore, but he was so popular amongst his section that he had been chosen over juniors and seniors that tried out.  
He had just been telling them about the time he managed to prank half the flute section by commanding everyone to take their flutes during a water break and putting them inside their instruments when a loud whistle blew across the room.  
Everyone turned towards the sound. A young man with high cheekbones and perfectly styled orange hair stood in front of everyone. He had on a track jacket with a CMB logo on it, and what looked like ironed jeans and polished sneakers.  
“You will all come to the band hall now,” he said sharply. “Please keep your voices down, there are still private lessons happening in the school.” He turned on his heel and strode out of the room. Everyone started chatting again, grabbing bags and heading out of the room.  
“Who was that?” Rose asked, looking scared.  
“That’s Armitage Hux,” Finn explained. Rey raised her eyebrow at the name and Finn laughed. “Nobody calls him Armitage--just Hux. Unless you talk directly to him.” Finn rolled his eyes and Rey laughed. “Guy has a stick up his ass. He’s a senior but apparently he’s always been like that.”  
The band hall filled quickly. There were around 300 people total. Percussionists were jostling each other in the back of the room, some of them tapping rhythms on the ground while they chatted. The flutes and clarinets sat at the front of the room. Rey could tell it was them from the amount of girls, and the way that the older members were sitting neatly with straight backs. Finn headed over to the group of people that were sitting in a cluster playing Telephone and laughing hysterically. “I’ll see you guys later!” he called to Rey and Rose, forcing his way into the middle of the cluster and scattering everyone with a laugh.  
“Well, I guess I should find my section?” Rey asked Rose nervously. How was it that even though it was only a year that separated her from seniors in high school, Rey felt even younger?  
Rose looked excited. “We can meet up at the end of the meeting. It’s going to be great!”  
She practically skipped off towards a small group of friendly people, where a petite girl was holding up a sheet of paper that said “Mellos.” Rey had forgotten that you didn’t march French horn, you marched Mellophone and played the horn in concert band.  
Rey moved towards the gaggle of people chatting casually with one another at the front of the room.  
“Are you clarinets?” she asked some girls, who were showing each other photos on their phones.  
“Ew, no, we’re flutes,” one of the girls laughed at Rey. She had long hair and very straight teeth--and a hard look in her eyes as she took in Rey’s appearance. She imagined she looked disheveled: She had spilled a soda down her shirt after driving over a particularly large bump in the road.  
Rey shrugged at her and went towards the clarinets, none of whom had a mean look in their eyes. The section leaders introduced themselves, and pointed out the other freshmen in the section. Rey went to join them just as Hux blew his whistle again.  
“Greetings, students,” he addressed the room with his arms behind his back. Isn’t he a student too? Rey thought to herself.  
“Welcome to the Coruscant University Marching Band, or CMB. Tomorrow, we will begin the audition process to determine whether or not you will be permitted to march with our esteemed group. For now, enjoy your time amongst one another, for this may be your last time being a part of the CMB--should you not make the cut,” he smirked at this last part, and Rey had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.  
He looked around for a moment, and looked as if he had just realized someone wasn’t there. With a sigh, he motioned towards a small group of adults who were speaking in low voices with one another. A man with gray hair and a very full beard noticed, and walked up.  
He introduced himself as Dr. Skywalker, director of the marching band. He spoke for a moment about the history of the CMB, and reassured everyone that the audition process would be very fair and that you could audition again next year if you did not make the cut. There would also be alternate spots.  
The others with him were the assistant directors, Holdo and Ahsoka. They flanked Dr. Skywalker’s side, and made him look far more important than Hux.  
“Now, where is our other drum major?” Dr. Skywalker asked Hux with a frown, as if it were his fault. Hux opened his mouth to respond, but a door banged open behind the band and everyone turned.  
Rey’s mouth fell open. The most intimidating man she had ever seen was striding into the room, looking entirely at ease. Whispers broke out, and a group of girls behind Rey began to giggle and nudge one another.  
“Ah, there he is,” Dr. Skywalker smiled pleasantly at the man. “May I introduce your other drum major, Ben Solo, who I assure you will be on time tomorrow.”  
“I figured Hux had a handle on things,” Ben shrugged. He was wearing the same track jacket as Hux, which Rey had noticed said “Drum Major” in big letters on the back.  
Rey stared at him without meaning to. Sure, there had been large guys in high school on the football team, but even those athletes hadn’t been so tall or broad shouldered. He must be a senior, for he looked like he was nearly old enough to be in his masters. But he was extremely handsome, with dark wavy hair and a nose that was slightly too big for his face. Rey felt her heart flutter a little bit.  
A boy next to her gave a low whistle. “Now that is an ass I’d like to tap,” he whispered, causing Rey to snort. He grinned and pretended to fan himself with a binder of music. “I’m Kitster, by the way.”  
“I’m Rey.” They shook hands. Rey hadn’t expected to make a friend so quickly, and she had already met Finn and Rose. This was way better than she had expected. She quickly asked Kitster where he was from--Tatooine, which was nearly as far away as Jakku was. They began griping about small town problems together, when the damn whistle blew again from between Hux’s lips.  
“There is too much chatter in the room!” he bellowed. Rey looked up and locked eyes with Ben. He was frowning at her, and her cheeks heated. Had she been louder than she thought? She pressed her lips together and looked down.  
That’s so embarrassing she thought to herself. Way to go, dummy! She chanced a glance up, but Ben was no longer looking at her. She sighed in relief.  
The meeting ended, and Kitster (“Just call me Kit”) asked Rey if she wanted to grab dinner. She went to find Rose, and Finn, who was nearby, invited all three of them to join some of the woodwinds in the dining hall.  
As they were walking out, Rey felt elated. She had been fairly isolated this summer aside from her babysitting charges and foster family. Now she found herself thrust into a whole new group of potential friends (although, she was sure Rose was a definite friend) and was caught up in the excitement of what was to come after auditions. Finn and some of his sophomore friends were horsing around, trying to cut in front of each other down the stairs. Rose and Rey were laughing and clutching their sides when THUD, Rey collided with what felt like the wall.  
She cursed, rubbing her stinging nose, and looked up. She froze. The intimidatingly handsome drum major, Ben, was glaring down at her.  
“Watch where you’re going!” he snapped at her.  
Rey felt her fear be replaced with anger. “Who do you think you are? I’m the one with the potentially broken nose!”  
“You’re nose is fine,” Ben replied, rolling his eyes. “Do you also realize you’ve just talked back to me? You have an audition tomorrow, and I’m on the panel.”  
Rey’s heart sunk. She’d never been very good at being snapped at and taking it in stride, and now her big mouth had gotten her in trouble.  
“Sorry,” she mumbled, wanting to move her hand from her nose and over her entire face to hide her embarrassment.  
“Whatever.” With that, Ben stalked past her, back into the music school.  
Everyone around Rey was quiet, having just watched the exchange with a mixture of fear and awe.  
“That was so brave,” Rose whispered.  
“Nice one!” Finn grinned. “Don’t take his crap. He’s a privileged, arrogant ass who thinks he’s better than everyone just because he’s talented and comes from an influential family.”  
“What if it affects my audition tomorrow?” Rey worried at her lip.  
Finn draped an arm over her shoulders and bumped her hip. “You’ll be fine! The directors are in charge, and Dr. Skywalker is very fair. Solo is just there to give his opinion, but he doesn’t make the decisions.”  
Rey let out a sigh of relief. “Thank the stars.” Rey felt a lot better, but there was still a nagging worry in her that told her she shouldn’t have started off on the wrong foot with Ben Solo.


	2. The Audition

The next morning, Rey was practically in tears.

“Are we supposed to dress up for auditions?” she called to Rose, who was hopping around on the other side of the room, trying to get her foot into a sock. Rey was on her knees, half of her torso in her suitcase, trying to figure out where her damn sports bra was. Maybe there was a chance that they would be required to wear something semi-nice, and Rey could wear her normal bra.

Rose toppled onto her bed, grunting as she finally yanked the sock up to her ankle. “There’s a marching component, so don’t dress up.”

“Hurrgggnnnnn,” Rey replied, buried underneath a heap of clothes.

“What?” Rose laughed as she grabbed her sneakers on. “Was that English?”

Rey extracted herself, brandishing her comfy black t-shirt bra that didn’t give much support but was great for hanging out (no pun intended). “This is all I can find. I know I don’t have much,” Rey glanced down at her chest, frowning, “but if they actually expect us to march, they’re in for a real show if I can’t find my sports bra.”

Rose, who was a bit more well-endowed, offered one of her spares, but it hung off of Rey’s frame comically.

“Thanks anyway,” she sighed, slipping on her old, reliable bra. “This day is off to a great start. First I knock over my water,” she gestured towards her bedside table, where there were still remnants of glass and water near her alarm clock, “and now this. I wouldn’t be surprised if all my clarinet reeds cracked before the audition.”

“You’ll be okay,” Rose reassured her as they left their room. “There are people who haven’t even marched before. They had to watch the tutorials on the CMB website so they could learn the technique. It could be worse!”

As they made their way across campus, they crossed paths with Finn. They had all had fun at dinner the night before, with Finn and some of the older members at their table bashing the drum majors in an attempt to cheer Rey up after her run-in with Ben. After two slices of greasy pizza and a lot of laughing, Rey felt a lot better. Now, in the light of a new day, she was starting to get that same sinking feeling, the one where she felt like she hadshot herself in the foot with a blaster. Finn seemed to sense this, and immediately began imitating Ben by strutting around on his tiptoes to give himself height. Rey and Rose clutched their sides, giggling at Finn’s antics all the way to Ilum. When they entered the music school, the lobby was much the same as it had been the night before, except this time, it was much quieter.

“Guess I’m not the only one who is nervous,” Rey muttered to Rose.

“You’re going to kill it Rey,” Finn told her seriously. “You too, Rose. Just play the excerpt, do a couple steps, and you’re through. They feed us lunch while we wait for the results too!”

“You don’t have to audition though, right?” Rose asked, which caused Finn to chuckle sheepishly.

“Err, no, sorry. I’m in the clear. But I’ll be here in the lobby, waiting to hear how it went." He reached over and put an arm around each of them, giving them a friendly squeeze. "Now, go warm up!”

* * *

 

Rey felt insecure about playing in front of people when her fate was so undecided. She had had no problem auditioning in high school competitions, but this was a whole new thing. Her peers had never been judges before--not that she saw Ben Solo or Hux as her peers. They were far too intimidating.

_“It’s no different than a panel of high school band directors,”_  she told herself sternly. _“Stop psyching yourself out.”_

She pieced together her clarinet, noticing with some humor that her reed was not broken as she had joked it would be. At least one thing was going right. There was some comfort in placing the finely honed piece of cane in her mouth and sucking on it. She knew that to a non-musician or even a non-woodwind, it might sound gross to put a chunk of dry wood in your mouth, but there was something so familiar and reassuring about the taste of the cane. She felt her nerves dissipate a tiny bit when she heard her name get called.

“Rey Lowen?”a girl was looking down at her clipboard near the audition room. "You're up next!"

Rey's stomach surged and she pulled her reed out of her mouth. “Rose, I’m going to throw up,” she muttered.

Rose had been buzzing on her mouthpiece, working out short, staccato notes in the same pattern as the school fight song. “You got this! Just trust your instincts. This isn’t anything you haven’t done before. Don’t worry about Solo, he probably forgot about you anyway.”

Rey exhaled, placed her reed on her mouthpiece, and went down the hall. The girl with the clipboard opened the door for her and let Rey into the small ensemble room where auditions were being held. Rey realized that she hadn't even had a chance to warm up.

_"Great, another screw up from yours truly,"_ she chastised herself. 

Dr. Skywalker was seated in the middle of the room behind a long table, a leather notebook filled with notes in front of him. Directly to his right was Holdo and Ahsoka, the two assistant directors. To his left was Hux, his back stiff and his eyes narrowed. He leaned slightly towards Ben, who was next to him, and whispered something. Ben smirked and shot a look at Rey that clearly said, _“I haven’t forgotten you pissed me off yesterday.”_

Rey felt a surge of heat go through her chest and up to her face. Finn was right: Ben Solo was an arrogant ass. Screw her nerves, and screw Ben Solo. She threw back her shoulders and walked into the room with all the confidence of someone who knew she was talented and could kick butt.

“Hello, Rey,” Dr. Skywalker said kindly. “You will be playing an excerpt of your choosing. I will motion to you when we have heard enough. After that, you will demonstrate a basic 8-to-5* march.”

“Thank you,” Rey murmured, and cleared her throat. “I will be playing from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto*, second movement.” Rey had chosen this movement for the technical aspects, and not to show off how fast she could play. Out of all three movements, it was by far the slowest, but it required lots of practice so it did not come out woodenly.

Rey put her clarinet in her mouth and began to play. She quickly lost herself in the music. Even without the piano accompaniment, she could hear the passionate swells between her notes and felt her heart warm and her eyes fluttering closed as she swayed with the notes. She didn’t see everyone at the table staring at her, eyes wide and mouths slightly open, nor did she see Hux slide the piece of paper that had her information on it so he could check her classification. He nudged Ben and pointed to where it read freshman and non-music major. Rey reached a point in the music where there was only piano playing, and opened her eyes as she tapped out the counts. Dr. Skywalker raised his hand to signal she could stop, and she lowered her clarinet. He smiled widely at her.

“Beautiful playing, Rey. Now, if you could demonstrate an 8-t0-5** please,” he said, gesturing towards the two pieces of tape that marked the distance between two yard lines.

Rey held her clarinet at position and stepped off. She was still riding on her confidence high and did not feel the need to glance down at her feet. She trusted her years of experience and let the familiar movement guide her directly to the other piece of tape.

Dr. Skywalker and the assistants clapped. “Wonderful!” Holdo exclaimed. “Your technique is great! My only suggestion is that you remember to bend your knees at the end. Otherwise, excellent job.”

Rey smiled at them. Hux and Ben were silent, arms crossed over their chests. Hux was having some difficulty masking his look of approval, but Ben was glaring at her. Rey felt her confidence come crashing down and suddenly wanted nothing more than to dart out of the room and never look back.

Dr. Skywalker dismissed her with another smile and told her that the results would be posted after lunch and to tell Cova to send the next person in.

Rey walked in a daze to the lobby. No matter how many auditions she had done in her life, she had never outgrown the feeling of relief that came afterwards. She was glad that she wasn’t majoring in music, and would only have to go through this a few more times in her life. Finn was seated in the lobby on an armchair, his legs hanging off the side.

“Hey, Rey!” he called cheerfully. “How’d it go?”

“Good, I think,” she replied, sinking into a chair next to him and closing her eyes. “I was completely awake before, but now I feel exhausted.” Her stomach growled, causing Finn to snicker.

"And hungry apparently. Don’t worry, they’ll feed us soon. Until then,” Finn grinned, a wicked gleam in his eyes, “let’s play Telephone.”

* * *

 

By the time Rose came into the lobby from her audition, Rey, Finn, and Kit--who had finished his audition before Rey and had been sitting in the lobby with some of the clarinet section--were sitting in a circle with a bunch of saxophones and clarinets, clutching their sides.

“I can’t repeat that one aloud,” Rey shrieked, tears of laughter in her eyes. When Finn had suggested they play what he had deemed “the official game of the saxophone section,” Rey had been apprehensive that the childish game could be fun. She quickly learned that in college, there was a lot more freedom to be inappropriate, and everyone was eager to distort an innocent sentence like, “Eat this sandwich, quick!” into “Eat this flaming bag of dicks!”

Finn pulled Rose down to sit on his other side right as Hux and Ben walked into the lobby. Ben stood coolly behind Hux with his hands inside his jacket pockets, his glasses sitting low on his nose as he took in the room. A tall girl with short blonde hair sauntered up and leaned against the wall next to Ben, immediately drawing him into hushed conversation. 

“Food will be served in the main chamber room down the hall,” Hux called out. “While you eat, we will be finalizing the results and should have them in an hour.”

“Who is that?” Rey asked Finn, nodding towards the girl.

“That’s Phasma, and she’s a complete piece of shit. You'd know that just from looking who she hangs out with, but don't be fooled: She manages to be shitty all on her own. She’s a trumpet player and was my high school drum major, and she made my life hell.” Just as Finn finished saying that, Phasma’s eyes lighted on him and she turned to tell Ben and Hux something. “She’s probably telling them to come shove my saxophone up my--”

“Oh crap,” Rey breathed. Ben had noticed her and was pushing himself off the wall. Hux and Phasma followed him as he made his way towards Finn, Rose, and Rey. “Care to join us?” Finn asked easily as the three of them stood over them. Ben ignored him.

“Make sure to wear a different bra next time,” he told Rey. “Not that there’s much there to begin with.” Phasma and Hux laughed at her, and she felt her cheeks heat. She had completely forgotten about the t-shirt bra, and realized with icy dread that she must have been bouncing around without noticing when she was marching.

She saw red, and slammed her palms into the ground so she could push herself up. She had to strain her neck to look up at him because he was so much taller than she was.

“You JERK!” she exploded. “How is it any of your business what I do or do not wear under my shirt?”

“Totally inappropriate,” Finn snapped at Ben behind her. Phasma cracked her knuckles menacingly at him.

“Watch it,” she growled. “You don’t talk back to leadership, even if Skywalker made the poor choice in assigning you section leader.”

“Finn, no!” Rose cried desperately, grabbing his arm. He had taken a step towards Phasma, his mouth open in a retort. “It’s not worth it!”

“Listen to your friend," Phasma jerked her head at Rose, "and remember your place. You're scum, and scum isn't allowed to speak to any of us that way."

"See you on the field--if you make the cut," Ben smirked at Rey. "Hopefully dressed appropriately next time.”

With that, the three of them sauntered off, laughing with one another. Rose, still clutching Finn’s arm with one hand, tentatively tapped Rey on the shoulder with her other hand. “Are...are you okay Rey?” she asked softly. “That was awful, what they said to you.”

Rey stood motionless, her fists clenched to her sides and her appetite gone.

“Ben Solo,” she spat at his back, even though she knew full well he was too far away to hear her, “is the worst person on the planet. If I make it into this band, I will see to it that I never, ever take an order from him!” 

With that, she stalked over to a couch and threw herself down so she could simmer until the results were posted. Rey was ready to take Ben Solo down as soon as she saw her name on the results sheet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *this is more of a joke for other clarinetists or woodwinds. The Mozart Clarinet Concerto is the most overplayed clarinet solo work (not necessarily a bad thing, but for it to be Rey’s choice of excerpt is a little contrived. Listen to the second movement by Sabine Meyer if you want to get a feel for it because it’s truly beautiful!)  
> **an 8-to-5 march means to take eight steps from one yard line to the next. So if you’re looking at the 50 yard line and you’re on the 45 yard line, you’ll take eight steps from the 45 to the 50. I won’t get anymore technical than that, I promise!


	3. The Rehearsal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friendos! I'm so sorry for the delay in updates! Work got busy, and a week went by where I did absolutely no writing at all, not even on my personal novel. I thank you for your patience, and appreciate comments and kudos :D
> 
> This was actually my favorite chapter to write so far. The codename Kit comes up with was actually the codename my best friend in marching band used whenever my crush would come near me on the field. I also tried to simplify or just eliminate terms that I thought wouldn't make sense to non-marchers. There was a whole paragraph about DCI and I realized I was doing an awful job trying to explain it! Enjoy!

Rey slammed her finger onto the signup sheet and whooped.

“Was that a good yell or a bad yell?” Rose shouted at her from behind the jostling students. Rey had volunteered to push her way to the front and read the results.

“I made it!” she shouted back while scanning the list again. Sure enough, Rose’s name was on there too. “And so did you!”

Rose shrieked and thrust her hand into the crowd to yank Rey out. “We did it! We did it!” she cried happily, pulling Rey into a tight squeeze. A whistle blew out over the noise, but everyone was too busy to pay any attention. A girl in front of Rey sobbed furiously into the arms of a boy, who was patting her back.

“You’ll get it next year,” he told her soothingly, which only caused her to wail louder.

“I’m...doing...study abroad!” she wailed. “Why did I choose to go to Alderaan for my senior year?”

Various other students were either whooping with their friends, or near tears. A few students had a forced, “I’m too cool for this anyway,” look on their faces--as if they were fooling anyone. Others were slouching off, dragging their feet and shooting jealous looks at the exultant students that had been accepted. The upperclassmen looked pleased with themselves, although they weren't cheering. They watched the underclassmen hug one another with the look of someone sizing up their competition now that the less proficient members had been weeded out.

Amongst them stood Hux, who was still puffing angrily into his whistle. “We will have ORDER!” he shouted over everyone. “We are in a school! Be quiet, or you will start your first rehearsal running laps!”

That shut everyone up. Hux sighed and smoothed down his already perfectly-gelled hair. “That’s better. Now, if you have been selected, gather your instruments and belongings and head to the field house. If you were not selected,” he smirked at some nearby freshman that had not had the good sense to clear out yet, “please leave the music school.”

“Can’t wait to take orders from him,” Rey muttered to Rose. “Are we really sure we want to be in band if it’s being led by General Hux?” She pretended to salute the back of his head, and Rose giggled.

They followed the mass exodus outside to the field house, which was across the street from the music school. The industrial structure, with its sleek silver panels and plate glass windows, would have looked grand had it not been resting in the shadows of the even larger indoor football field.

“That’s where the team practices, so nobody can spy on them,” Rose informed Rey unnecessarily. “Ours is indoors to protect our fragile bodies.”

They headed inside the tinted doors, which opened directly out onto a field of Astroturf. Rey looked at a couple of brass guys who had already stripped their shirts off on the front sideline. They were tanned and toned, and looked like they had spent all summer running marathons. Rey was aware she was still in her audition clothes, which meant that any marching exercise they did would cause the same issue as before concerning her lack of sports bra. She noticed a lot of upperclassmen had changed into workout clothes, and she wondered if they had intentionally kept quiet about having a rehearsal directly after auditions to make the freshmen look out of place on the field.

Some of the woodwind girls were trying not to watch the shirtless guys, and a few of the bolder flute players had removed their upper layers and stripped down to their sports bras.

“Yeah, not happening,” Rey rolled her eyes at the girls. “Not with the Supreme Leader making comments on my chest.” Ben Solo was leaning against one of the three conducting ladders along the sideline. He was talking to some trumpet players, who work looks of respect and adoration on their faces. Rey noticed that he was being polite to the freshman, even from this distance. Hypocrite.

 “Welcome to college band!” Finn whooped, jumping in front of the girls. “I knew you’d both get in. This is where the fun begins!” He gave Rose and Rey quick hugs, which they returned enthusiastically. Rey was glad that she wouldn't have to say goodbye to her newest friend. 

There were about 300 people gathered on the Astroturf. The entire field was complete with yard lines and endzones so that it mimicked an actual stadium. However, instead of levels of bleachers, the soaring walls displayed old banners and photos of past years. The side with the conducting ladders had a balcony behind it, where Dr. Skywalker and his assistants were seated. The entire complex was lit by fluorescent lights, but some of the harshness was tempered down by swaths of fabric hanging down from the ceiling in the school colors. Rey figured it was all to help with sound--every band hall she’d ever been in had fabric on the walls and ceiling to help balance it.

Hux climbed the center ladder and switched on a megaphone. Rey groaned. Hux was already annoying enough without amplifying his voice.

“Assemble your instruments and meet with your respective sections for warm-ups!” he barked, his voice carrying out over the field.

“Why does Hux tell everyone what to do? Is he the head drum major?” Rey asked Finn.

He shook his head amusedly. “Nah, Hux is just second-in-command to Solo. He’s the one that usually yells at us, but make no mistake: Ben Solo doesn’t need to yell at us to assert his dominance. You’ll see what I mean when he climbs the ladder.”

“He doesn’t seem like someone I’d want to give respect to,” Kit piped up, appearing out of nowhere at Finn's side. “Not after the way he made fun of Rey.” Rey beamed at him.

 They split up, with Rose heading off to the farthest end zone where the mellophones were chatting. Rey and Kit went to the clarinets, who had chosen the far back sideline. A neat row of cases were lined up, their boxy forms varying shades of black and brown. Some of the clarinet players appeared to be in a competition over who could play their scales the fastest, and Rey giggled as one of the seniors honked out a high note and then joked, “I played it so fast it all became one note.” This was where she felt at home. No matter where you went, band kids were always the same. Sometimes clarinet players had a reputation for being kissups and rule followers, but Rey knew them to also be fun and a bit trollish.

A confident looking girl with long dark hair clapped her hands and beamed at the section. “Congrats, clarinets! I’m so excited to have you here! I’m Paige, your head section leader.”

“Or section loser, as I like to call her,” grinned a tall guy next to her. Paige punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“This loser is Cai, and don’t listen to anything he says.”

“Funny, I was going to tell them the same about you,” he quipped back.

“And I’m D’acy, your third section leader!” piped up a small girl who was almost completely obscured by Cai. “I hope you listen to me, if you’re not going to listen to either of these nerf herders.” Everyone laughed, the last remnants of tension from the auditions evaporating.

They went around the circle introducing themselves. Rey reclined on the Astroturf between Kit and another freshman, feeling completely at ease with people so similar to her. After awhile, a whistle sounded, and Dr. Skywalker’s voice came over the loudspeakers that were placed strategically around the field.

“I hope everyone had the chance to introduce themselves to their sections. Normally, we would start rehearsals off warming up as separate sections, but for today, let’s meet as a group in front the center ladder in the middle.”

They headed over, leaving their instruments behind. Rey was engrossed in conversation with Kit about their dorms (he was in the slightly nicer Kessel Hall) and only noticed her surroundings after they had moved towards the center ladder.

Ben Solo was standing a foot away in a power stance that would have made Rey laugh if he hadn’t looked so formidable. He was glaring down his noseat her, which was slightly too large for his face. His glasses had been pushed back like sunglasses to hold his long dark hair back. Trepidation warred with the urge to snap, “ _Can I help you?”_ at him. She was all too aware of the dark energy radiating off of him. She shuffled closer to Kit, gently nudging him with her elbow to get his attention. Kit glanced over and, upon seeing Ben’s face, gave a startled little jump.

“Should we move?” he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Rey shook her head, resigned to stay put. She was allowed to stand wherever she wanted. 

Dr. Skywalker leaned over the balcony above them, and everyone turned their faces upwards except for Ben. Rey could feel his heated glare on her, and found it hard to concentrate on anything Dr. Skywalker was saying about rehearsal structure. Her mind had gone painfully blank as she held herself as still as possible, so as to not show the trembling in her shoulders. She was certain all the blood had gone to her face again, but there was little she could do about that under such scrutiny. The speech seemed to go on forever, although Rey supposed it had probably only been ten minutes max. She was relieved to break away from the nearness of Ben, and let Kit lead her back to their section to get their clarinets. He caught her up on the instructions she had missed. They were to come back and form two arcs in front of the ladder with their instruments ready to go. Dr. Skywalker would lead them in warm-ups, with the drum majors and assistants walking amongst them to adjust their sounds.

“I don’t want Ben Solo coming anywhere near me. He’s…,” Rey grasped for the right word.

“Unsettling?” supplied Kit.

“Absolutely,” she nodded. “Do you mind keeping an eye out for him? I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’s getting to me.”

“Yeah, no problem. We can even come up with a codename for when he approaches.” Kit scrunched up his nose in thought. “What about...lasagna?”

Rey giggled. “Perfect. That’ll just make him think you’re constantly hungry.”

They headed to the front arc, and Rey was thrilled to see that the saxophones were behind the clarinets. Finn quickly maneuvered directly behind her, and started honking _The Imperial March_ as soon as Dr. Skywalker took the ladder and had them begin.

They were supposed to be going down the C Major scale note by note, but Finn was far more interested in entertaining Rey and everyone around them. She quickly lost focus on the exercise and struggled to contain her laughter. If you laughed into a clarinet, a loud squeak would eject from the mouthpiece and bell at the same time, and Rey wasn’t keen on her sound standing out like that.

“Stop it,” she snorted at Finn over her shoulder at the same time Kit hissed, “Lasagna!”

_Kriff._ Rey’s stomach dropped as a dark shadow cast over her. _How_ had the asshole appeared so quickly? She had to have only glanced away for two seconds, and he had been on the opposite side of the humongous arc before she had looked away. He stood in front of her silently, his dark eyes boring into her as if he were looking into her soul. _Unnerving, indeed._ Rey tentatively brought her mouthpiece up to her lips, a futile attempt to make it look like she had been following instructions.

“Do you know why we play as a group before rehearsals?” Ben asked softly, his voice barely audible over the band.

Rey shot a glance at Kit, who was pretending not to listen. His sound wavered like a beginner just learning how to hold a note steadily. Her mouth went dry.

“We, um, play as a group because, well...because we need to make sure we match our sound. So we, you know, don’t waste time during the rehearsal,” she stammered out. Where was that angry confidence she had had earlier?

“One would think,” Ben retorted nastily, “that wasting time in rehearsals would include idle chatter during the very first warm up of the year. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“It was my fault, Solo.” Finn interjected, his head appearing over her shoulder. “I was distracting her.”

“She is a college student, and is therefore responsible for her own actions,” Ben replied smoothly, a gleam of something akin to delight flashing in his eyes. “If she is old enough to be considered an adult, then she should act like one.”

_There it is!_ Rey thought triumphantly as a surge of anger flowed through her veins. She unconsciously dug her heels into the ground, as if preparing for battle.

“Who are you to say what is adult behavior? You’re telling me you were a perfect little prince when you were my age?” She gripped her clarinet as if she were choking the life out of it. “I’m sorry for not paying attention, but you don’t have to make your delivery so condescending!”

Rey heard a small gasp from Kit. She knew she shouldn’t be talking back to authority--in fact, she never talked back to anyone above her. There was just something about Ben Solo that got under her skin. Maybe it was the way his face appeared calm while his eyes showed a barely contained rage that struck a little too close to home for her.

“I _think_ ,” Ben spat at her, “that your little display of disrespect warrants three laps around the field. Leave your clarinet at the sidelines and do it now.” With that, he spun on his heel and stalked away.

Rey bit down hard on her lip to prevent snapping back at his retreating form. The _Drum Major_ title emblazoned across the back of his jacket seemed to mock her lowly freshman status, and she sank back down to reality.

“ _What have I done?_ " she groaned, smacking her palm against her forehead.

“I don’t know, but I loved it,” Finn told her with a grin. “Nobody talks back to Solo.”

He threw an arm around her shoulder and gave her a side hug. “Come on, I’ll do the laps in solidarity with you. I should’ve been the one to get in trouble anyway.”

Ben watched them as they ran around the field. One lap around a football field was a lot on its own, and Rey was thankful for the cold air blasting overhead. Finn started cracking jokes about the time he was caught smuggling a cake out of a restaurant and onto the bus during an out-of-state trip last year. Rey threw back her head and laughed, aware that Ben’s eyes were on her.

“ _Good, let him see me having fun_ ,” she thought with a smirk. She was aware that running was the worst thing to be doing in this bra, but was proud of herself for not crossing her arms over her chest. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Only three interactions with this guy, and he had already signaled her out as the freshman whose life he would make suffer. She had never been on the receiving end of such targeted maliciousness, but she knew that she had to make sure to continue to hold her own. It was obvious that there wasn’t anything she could do to get on his good side at this point--if he even _had_ a good side.


	4. The Punishment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is my gift to you: A very long chapter! :P I could have cut it off at 2500-ish words, but decided that it made more sense to keep going. I'm itching to post the next chapter though. 
> 
> I tried really hard to explain how coordinate sheets work for any non-marchers reading. It’s not vital to the story that you understand it--just know that it involves moving to very, very specific points all over a football field. I also sped up the rehearsal and took some liberties because nobody except band people want to read about cleaning drill for ten pages.   
> Actually, I'm not even sure I'd enjoy reading that.

Ben Solo making Rey run laps for back talking him proved to the most eventful part of the first rehearsal of the year. Dr. Skywalker had them run over the basic step counts they’d be using in each halftime show, which took up the rest of the rehearsal. Music would be passed out the following day, which would be the first full day of band camp.

After that first evening rehearsal, Rey was exhausted. Her body was unused to this style of marching. In high school, they had used a more rigid, straight-leg style like how a militia would march. Here, it was more relaxed, but her foot had to essentially hit four points one after another in the span of mere seconds.

“Kick, roll, roll, roll!” had been repeated ad nauseum over the loudspeakers. Peel your foot, starting with the heel and following through to your toes. Place the heel down and, at the same time, repeat the process with your other foot. Make sure to bend your knees the whole time. Repeat. Maybe get some water, then repeat again.

Rey was reminded of how difficult marching could be. It wasn’t the comical stomping around she’d seen people do mockingly. There was a considerate amount of technique that went into it. Your upper body was supposed to be completely still as you moved--except of course for your mouth, fingers, and wrists. Sometimes, you had to turn your upper body at a 45-degree angle while your lower half moved, otherwise known as  _ sliding _ . Rey  _ hated  _ sliding. It felt completely unnatural. Coupled with the fact that she was  _ still  _ in her audition clothes, Rey was unsurprised to find herself grateful when Dr. Skywalker blew the whistle that signaled the end of rehearsal.

“So, all in all, not the worst first day?” Finn said cheerfully as they made their way to the field house exit.

“I don’t know if I would consider the entire day a success,” she replied dryly. “Making the band, yes. But making an enemy of Solo? No.”

Finn had mentioned that watching Ben on the ladder would prove that he could command respect without much effort, but the assistants had led most of the rehearsal so that the drum majors could get a better feel for the new members. Ben would take the ladder the next day when real rehearsals began.

“Ben Solo is a jerk. I saw him make you run laps from across the arc,” Rose said darkly as she jogged up to them. “I do  _ not  _ like bullies.”

Rey gave her a quick, reassuring smile. Rose’s section was on the other side of the field with the other brass sections, and Rey would probably only see her before and after rehearsals. “I can handle him. Kit will keep an eye out during rehearsals for me too.” 

“I can do it too,” Finn interjected, puffing out his chest. “Us woodies gotta stick together.”

“Woodies?” Rose laughed at the same time Rey said, “Thanks, I hate it.”

“Hey, I have to make sure I’m setting new trends,” Finn winked at them. “I’ve got an entire section looking up to me. Hey, Flick!” he called to a saxophone player walking ahead of them. “Isn’t that right? Woodies are the best!” 

“Yeah man, woody pride,” he called back, punching his fist in the air. 

They followed the gaggle of band students down the path towards the dining hall. The wind blew through the old oaks, scattering leaves in their path. Most students hadn’t arrived yet, so the campus was more deserted than it would be the following week. Coincidentally, that meant that the only dining hall open right now saw an influx of band students once rehearsal let out.

Rey, Rose, and Finn grabbed their trays and broke apart, each heading to a different station. Rey had been thrilled the previous night to see an entire station of pizza, and was excited to see it again now. 

Her mouth watered as she waited in line, her eyes on the pizza that had just come out of the oven. Only three people stood between her and delicious, gooey cheese and garlicky goodness.

“You’re not going to eat the whole thing, are you?” a voice broke through her reverie behind her. 

“I’m sorry?” She whirled around in panic mentally screaming  _ Don’t be Ben Solo! _

A guy with curly hair surrounding a tanned and handsome face was laughing at her. “You’re staring so intently at that pizza that I’m worried there won’t be any left.” 

Why had her immediate response been to assume that Ben had snuck up on her? Rey flushed at the teasing, and his eyes widened. “No, no, no! I’m just kidding!” the guy reassured her. “You’re in band right? I saw you jogging at the beginning of rehearsal so I bet you’re hungrier than the rest of us.”

“It wasn’t a personal choice,” Rey grumbled, clutching her tray furiously at the memory. 

“Ah, was it Solo or Hux?” He sighed and shook his head ruefully. “I can’t stand them. Trust me, they’ve got it out for me too. I’m Poe, by the way.” He grinned and inclined his head at her. “Fellow pizza lover.” 

“I’m Rey,” she smiled tentatively back at him, relaxed by his immediate display of disdain towards Ben Solo. “It was Solo.” 

“So, Rey, what did you do to anger our beloved leader?”

Rey looked around, suddenly paranoid. “I, um, talked back to Ben Solo,” she confided. Poe barked out a laugh.

“Nice! You deserve a whole pizza for that.”

“I don’t want a whole pizza,” she smiled as she grabbed three slices. She felt a sudden burst of confidence. “Hey, do you want to sit with us?” She nodded towards a table where Finn, Rose, and a random assortment of underclassmen were sitting. 

“The trumpets spend all of band week together as a rule. But I’ll catch you on the field tomorrow?” Poe gave her a lazy smile and walked towards a long table where mostly guys were sitting. Phasma was at the head of the table, her food sitting untouched in front of her and a pair of shiny aviators over her face, as if the dining hall lights were too bright for her.

Rey didn’t like the idea that Poe, who seemed really friendly and like someone she’d want to hang out with, would be friends with Phasma. She was therefore happy to see him take a seat at the opposite end of the table, even though there was an empty chair next to Phasma. 

“Who were you talking with?” Rose asked Rey as she set her tray down. Her mouth was full of salad and the words came out muffled. 

“Poe, he’s a trumpet player. He was really nice.”

“Oh, Poe Dameron?” interjected Finn. “Now that’s a cool dude. Most of the trumpets are jerks but he never talks down to any of the woodies.”

“I think I may need you to print a spreadsheet of who is trustworthy and who isn’t,” Rey joked as she shoved pizza into her mouth, “and to not use  _ woodies  _ while I’m eating.” 

“You’ll learn on your own, but if anyone in my section ever gives you a hard time, just tell me and I’ll make sure they find their music mysteriously at the bottom of the water cooler.” He pointed his fork accusingly at Jessika, the girl with braids from yesterday. 

She flattened her palm against her heart, feigning shock. “Me? Give someone a hard time?  _ Never _ .” She winked at some of the saxophone players sitting next to her, who in turn raised their glasses at her. Rey had learned she was the other saxophone section leader during rehearsal earlier, and had teamed up with Finn to drag some random underclassmen to their dinner table. 

Rey had never expected to find herself with so many fast friends. Having Rose as her roommate was a welcome surprise and, with the exception of Ben Solo and his goons, everyone had been friendly and welcoming. It was a different pace than high school, where there was a rigidity that didn’t allow for too much joking. 

* * *

 

By the time Rey made it back to her room, she was exhausted. She unpacked the rest of her things and was thankful to find her sports bra in the outer pocket of her suitcase. _Good, no more reason to piss anyone off_ she thought. With that, she threw herself onto the bed without showering, telling herself she would shower in the morning. As she closed her eyes, she distractedly thought of Ben Solo, but was too tired to feel angry as she drifted off into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

 

“Rey! Rey, wake up!” 

Rey sat upright quickly, completely disoriented. “Wh-what?!” 

“We’re going to be late for rehearsal! I’ve been trying to wake you up all morning, but you were knocked out.” Rose was biting her lip, looking nervous.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you late Rose. You should’ve left without me.” Rey put her palms over her eyes and tried to rub the sleep away.

“I wouldn’t leave you! You’re my friend!” Rose protested. “If we leave now, we can still make it on time, I think.” 

“Okay, just give me a minute to throw my clothes on.”  Rey jumped up and began stumbling around the room, trying to put on everything as quickly as possible. Rose, in an attempt to be helpful, had grabbed her bottle of air freshener and was spraying it over Rey’s head, like a shower. 

“This is humiliating,” Rey groaned, pulling her greasy hair into new buns at the back of her head. “I’m going to get a reputation as someone who doesn’t shower now.”

“You really don’t smell bad,” Rose said as she sniffed the air. “Just make sure to bring your deodorant with you. You know...just in case.”

The girls sped out the dorm. Rey felt bad that they had missed the chance for breakfast, but Rose had thought ahead.

“I always keep snacks in the room, just in case,” she huffed as they speedwalked across campus. She passed Rey a banana and a protein bar, which Rey accepted gratefully. 

The sun was just beginning to rise over the field house, where they would be meeting for the rest of the week. Rey was thankful to see a few last minute stragglers stumbling sleepily into the building ahead of them. 

They rushed in and broke apart for their sections without so much as a goodbye. Rey started opening her case as she moved, balancing it in one hand and throwing her reed in her mouth with the other, even though she knew better than to eat right before playing. The clarinets were already forming their warm-up circle, but a couple members, including Kit, were still putting their instruments together.

Kit smiled at Rey and waved with half of his clarinet at her. “Don’t worry, the drum majors aren’t out on the field yet. They meet with Dr. Skywalker before rehearsal to go over the plan every morning. Paige told me.” 

Rey expelled a sigh of relief. “Thank the stars.”

Paige and D’acy led the warm-ups, while Cai walked amongst them and corrected their sounds. He would try to match their pitch in a high falsetto, which not only pointed out whether or not they were sharp or flat, but made them all dissolve into giggles. It hadn’t taken long for Rey to discover Cai was the silly one out of the section leaders, and would do almost anything to get a laugh out of people that would also ensure he didn't get in trouble. Paige was the strict one, though she often looked like she was trying to hold back her laughter whenever Cai said something. Little D’acy was bubbly and peppy, and had seemed more interested in organizing a social event for the section than in musical technique. 

As Paige clapped in time, a metronome switched on over the speaker system and began to cycle through different time signatures. Naturally, people glanced towards the center ladder out of curiosity, including Rey. She locked eyes with Ben Solo across the field and internally cursed.

“Is he trying to catch me messing up?” she asked Kit out of the corner of her mouth, without taking her eyes off of Ben. She felt a strong urge to look away first, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. That same mentality of refusing to back down yesterday evening was still with her.

Kit followed Rey’s gaze to where Ben was.  “He’s going to murder you if you do,” he replied with mild awe. “I can feel his hatred across the field.”

“Then you’d better pay attention,” Cai announced, appearing in front of them suddenly. “You made it into this band for a reason--don’t jeopardize it by pissing someone  like Solo off. I've done it enough times to know it's not worth it."

Rey and Kit stammered out apologies as the clarinets around them snickered. It was fine to goof off and ignore some of the instructions, but getting called out by a section leader--especially one the fun one--was always embarrassing, no matter if it was high school or college band.

After warm-ups, they spread out on the field. Each yard line had about thirty members evenly spaced up and down them. Music was passed out and attached to instruments via lyres. Rey had never particularly liked the little metal clips, even though they allowed her hands to move across the keys while keeping the music in her line of sight. 

“Cool, it’s a space themed show!” Rey cheered. Along with the music, lanyards with coordinate sheets that hung suspended from a name tag pouch were handed out. Each sheet had a numerical value to indicate the number randomly assigned to each member. She glanced down and saw #41 on her card.

Rey knew that even though she started out near clarinets, she could end up near other instruments on the field. Section leaders carried packets that had every number, or “dot”, labeled on it for each set. 

Dr. Skywalker was above the field again on the balcony, his arms folded over his faded Coruscant Band jacket. He looked down to Ben and Hux and nodded to Ben. Ben grasped the sides of the giant ladder that was placed below and slightly in front of the balcony and began to climb. Rey’s stomach fell. She remembered Finn mentioning to watch Ben on the ladder and see how he commanded respect, which she couldn't say she was excited about.

“Ben will be conducting you as preparation for the first football game, where you will be performing your first show in front of thousands of fans.” Dr. Skywalker had his megaphone out and was speaking calmly into it, so that his amplified voice didn’t kill all of their eardrums. “I am here to run the rehearsal and make sure everything runs smoothly. My graduate assistants, Holdo and Ahsoka, will be on the field to answer any questions. Don’t worry if your number gets called out--it is natural to be new and make mistakes.  Remember that this is a judgement-free place.” He smiled benevolently at everyone and nodded to Ben again, who pulled a conducting baton out of his jacket pocket. He held it aloft, a slight frown marring his features in concentration. Hux sprang forward to the large silver metronome box at the base of the ladder, and flipped it on. 

_ Click, click, click, click!  _

The beats thrummed in Rey’s ears, and her heart sped up to match the tempo. She was suddenly hyperaware of everything around her, from the spiky turf beneath her sneakers to the cool, familiar keys her fingers rested on. She held the slender instrument in front of her like a staff held vertical, and waited for the whistle to blow six times to signal when to snap it to her mouth and step off from her spot.

_ Tweeeeet, tweet! Tweet  _ _ tweet tweet tweet! _

Rey kicked her foot out and rolled through her step, letting the beats guide her. This was an 8-count move, and in eight steps, she had made it to her next spot. The whistle blew, and Rey looked up at Ben on the ladder.

He was staring hard at the field, his frown deeper than before. A lock of his dark hair had fallen into his face, and he stood at the top of the ladder with such a menacing presence that Rey found herself shivering. A convenient skylight shone down on him, a stark contrast between its brightness and his darkness. 

“Well, the first steps of the season are always rough!” called out a cheerful voice nearby, jolting Rey out of her study of Ben. The graduate assistant, Ahsoka, was looking up at Dr. Skywalker. “Shall we reset and try again?”

Dr. Skywalker gave a thumbs up, and everyone moved back to their original spaces. Whatever had gone wrong the first time must have improved, because they moved on to the next set after running the first one again.

But when they reached the third set, Ahsoka had them stop and repeat the process. This continued for a good hour--they’d reach a set, someone would make a dramatic mistake that ruined it for the whole band, and then they’d have to correct it again.

Rey was used to running sets over and over again, but not at such a fast pace. She was sweating even under the air conditioning, and her calves strained from the effort. When they stopped again right after a much-needed water break, she mirrored the annoyed sounds the other members made around her.

“41,” came Ben’s voice over the loudspeaker. When nobody raised their hand, he repeated it. He had a small radio that connected to the speaker system, so he could let the assistants know which people were messing up. 

_ How embarrassing,  _ Rey thought to herself, feeling a stab of sympathy towards the bandsman being called out. Hux was looking angrier by the minute, his hand tapping restlessly on top of the temporarily silent metronome. She looked down at her music, which she had been attempting to finger on her clarinet in between resets so she could memorize it and dispose of her lyre.

“Who the hell is 41?” complained a baritone next to Rey. _Oh no._ She glanced down at her tag and immediately panicked.

“H-here!” she thrust her hand into the air quickly, trying to look anywhere except at Ben Solo.  _ Idiot!  _ She  berated herself. If only Kit wasn’t halfway across the field. 

“Your backwards step-off  is causing you to arrive at your next spot a half count too late,” Ben drawled over the speakers. The baritone next to Rey snickered and she flashed him an evil look as Ben continued.

“Ahsoka, can you please keep an eye on number 41? She’s a freshman clarinetist,” he paused, and Rey looked up at him to see his eyes flashing all the way across the field, “and has a tendency not to listen." He gave her a tight lipped smile that was anything but friendly. The entire band roared with laughter, and Rey fought the urge to scream in frustration. Ahsoka came over and patted her on the shoulder, trying to mask her amusement with sympathy. 

“We all get our timing off at one point or another,” she reassured her. “Let's see what’s going on when we run this next set. I’ll watch your feet.”

Ben blew the whistle, and they stepped off. Rey was so humiliated and angry, however, that she could feel her feet actually struggling to stay in step now. Her upper body bent as she broke protocol and looked down at her feet so she could make sure she landed on the correct yard line. 

_ “Oof!”  _ huffed a flutist as Rey suddenly rammed into her head first and knocked her down.

“I’m so sorry!” she shrieked, throwing her clarinet to the yardline and grabbing the flutist by the wrists to yank her up. “I didn’t mean to!” 

“You need to work on your balance,” the flutist grumbled, rubbing her backside. “You’ve marched before, right?”

Rey was incredulous. “Of course I have!” She had never had this problem in high school! She chalked it up to knowing that Ben was watching her,  _ after  _ he had called her out in front of the whole band. She was used to being treated with respect as a band member, and not humiliated for messing up.  _Judgment-free, indeed!_

“Leave her alone, Taka,” snapped Paige, who was a couple feet away down on the yard line. “That’s one of my clarinets. Where do you get off talking down to a freshman anyway?”

“Maybe if she didn’t  _ knock me to the ground _ \--” Taka started back at Paige, tossing her long hair behind her furiously, before she was interrupted by Ben. He had climbed down the ladder and come up to them without anyone noticing. He was looking at Rey like he wanted to throw her head first out of the field house.

“I have now had to stop rehearsal because of all the talking over here--in addition to clarinet 41’s inability to march in a straight line.” 

“Ben,” gaspedTaka, her face quickly smoothing into a look of adoration. “I’m so sorry! It was this freshman,” she pointed her flute accusingly at Rey, “who knocked me over. You know I would  _never_ interrupt rehearsal with you leading it."

“Oh my  _ god! _ ” Paige seethed at Taka. “Rey didn't bump into you intentionally! Plus, _you_ are supposed to be aware of your trajectory, and go  _around_ someone who is out of step!"

Taka opened her mouth furiously, but Ben cut her off. “Paige, go get some water and cool down. Taka, if you’re hurt, you can go sit out.” Taka looked disappointed but remained where she was, shooting angry looks between Rey and Paige's retreating back. Cai had stepped out of his spot a yard line over and had run up to put his arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

Ben took a step towards Rey, and she shrunk back. “Now for you. You managed to hurt another member, disrupt rehearsal, and delay the entire band learning the next step." He shook his head, his dark hair falling even more into his face. "As drum major, it's my job to help make sure rehearsals run smoothly, and that all members pull their weight. It's obvious that you need a teacher.”

“I do  _ not  _ need a teacher!” Rey exclaimed in shock. “You saw me march at my audition, and I did fine! I’m just having...an off day,” she finished lamely, her fingers moving nervously over her clarinet keys.  _ Please don’t punish me, please don’t punish me  _ she willed Ben in her head.  _Don't make me be alone with you, where you can torment me out of earshot of everyone._

He leaned in close and lowered his voice. “Stay after rehearsal tonight. I’m going to put an end to this problem before it makes future rehearsals worse.” 

He smiled at Rey’s shock, but it wasn’t a nice smile--it was the smile of a hungry cat who had trapped a terrified mouse. 

 

×

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact of this chapter: Hux having to run the metronome is perhaps the most subservient thing a drum major can do. In my band, we always called that drum major the “met bitch” (short for metronome) because literally anyone can do it!   
> Having Ben on the ladder and Hux down below being met bitch is the perfect summation of their power dynamic.


End file.
